Another week passed and in that time Nikki had seen a lot of the slightly older man Bob Mumford who she had met in the park on the day her and her Gran had had the altercation in the cafe. She met him again when she was meeting Emily from her maths lecture like she sometimes did if she had some spare time when the boys were in nursery or being babysat by their friends and she and Mumford had conversed a few times as he stood with her while he was waiting. He was twenty one and the third year of his maths course.

"Are you free tonight Nikki?" Mumford asked suddenly and Nikki frowned at him, shaking her head and giving him an apologetic smile.

"No, I'm sorry. I have work to do and I have my children to look after"

"Just for a drink"

Nikki inwardly sighed and shook her head again.

"I can't Bob even for a friendly drink, I have Harry you know that"

Mumford sighed and nodded, looking down at the floor as he shuffled his feet in what looked to Nikki like embarrassment.

"It's not just that, I really do have a lot of work to do tonight. There's an essay due tomorrow afternoon that I haven't finished yet" she chuckled and turned away from Mumford when the door to the lecture theatre opened and the students began walking out, she completely missed the annoyed glare at the older man gave her before it was wiped off his face as she turned back to him. "I have to go"

"Yeah, see you around" Mumford mumbled, smiling slightly at Nikki as she gave him an encouraging smile and then walked through the small crowd to meet Emily.

"What did Mumford want?" Emily asked as soon as Nikki reached her. The brown haired woman hadn't like him as soon as she had met him three days before when she had left a lecture early to meet Nikki and found her friend talking to him. She could see the way that he looked at Nikki but thankfully in her eyes Nikki was completely oblivious.

"Wanted to take me for a drink tonight, he knows I have the twins to look after and work to do" Nikki rolled her eyes and missed the way that Emily glanced back over her shoulder to check behind them "And I don't even know him properly either"

"Just be careful" Emily warned her friend in a low voice and Nikki tutted at her "No really Nikki, I don't like him"

"So you've told me"

"Nikki please be serious" Emily sighed as Nikki giggled at her "I don't like him he's just..you have other friends, you have us lot and you have the people in your lectures and group lessons, you really don't need him"

"You honestly don't like him do you?" Nikki asked her with a small chuckle and Emily gave her a withering look "I'm fine, he's just someone I talk to while I'm waiting for you that's all I can't even call him a friend, just an acquaintance maybe. Now tell me about the guy who was obviously giving you very appreciative looks when you walked out of the hall together"

"Who..Bradley?"

"If that's his name yes, tall, blonde hair that looks like it would be amazing to run hands through" Nikki prompted with a smirk and Emily blushed as they walked down the stairs to one of the many exits in the part of the university where the maths lecture halls were held. "So?"

"So Bradley is just a friend"

"Hmm"

"He is" Emily protested as she giggled and nudged the younger woman's shoulder.

"Yes and Harry and I were 'just friends' once"

"Yes well he's not going to want to be with someone who already has another man's child is he?" Emily shrugged and Nikki's joking smile faded.

"Don't think like that otherwise you'll never let yourself have a relationship"

"Maybe I don't want one just yet" Emily frowned as she thought about it "I just want to get this year over and done with as well as concentrating on Elsie as well, a boyfriend would be too much of a distraction"

"You're scared about being hurt again" Nikki stated and Emily sighed loudly, a chuckle falling from her mouth as she nodded once.

"You're scarily observant, no I don't want to get hurt again but like I said Elsie and University come before anything else"

"I have an issue" Nikki stated calmly as she strode into the living room that evening, Jennifer, Abigail and Emily already sitting around on the sofas and armchairs with mugs of hot chocolate in their hands or on the table. Harry and Harry had taken the Gabriel, Donovan and Fergus out for a walk because none of the children were settling down for the night except Elsie and Adrian who were fast asleep in their rooms and they thought the fresh air might do them some good.

"Just one issue?" Jennifer asked cheekily and Nikki laughed sarcastically at her before sitting down heavily on the sofa next to Abigail and covering her face with her hands "What is the issue then?"

"Harry and I had sex this afternoon" Nikki started and heard the other three women chuckle as Abigail interrupted her.

"That's an issue?"

"No" Nikki groaned as she moved her hands away from her face and glared at her friend "The issue is that the condom split"

"Shit"

"Yes" Nikki snapped and covered her face with her hands again as her friends exchanged concerned looks with each other "Totally and utterly shit"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well there's not really anything I can do is there?" Nikki sighed loudly "Until next month anyway"

"And what did Harry say?"

"Harry didn't notice" Nikki mumbled through her hands "I took the condom off him when we'd finished and noticed then, I didn't tell him"

"Nikki" Jennifer admonished her and Nikki removed her hands from her face and glared at her friend.

"You can't tell him" Nikki then told them all quickly, panicking as she sat up a bit more and shook her head "Please"

"We won't because it's not our place but you should" Abigail told her friend calmly, placing one hand on the obviously distressed younger woman's arm as Nikki shook her head again "Why?"

"Because it's not fair on Harry telling him now and making him worry or think it over all the time until next month" Nikki told the red haired woman, looking at her other two friends as she spoke as well "Just let him get on with the work, lectures and looking after the twins while I worry about this as well, please?"

"Don't worry about it, it'll just make it seem a whole lot worse"

"I know" Nikki moaned, sitting fully back against the sofa and covering her face with her hands once more "Should have been more careful after the first time" she mumbled under her breath but Abigail heard it.

"There was another time?"

"Shit" Nikki muttered and shook her head, turning and smiling at the red haired woman next to her "No, don't worry about it it's just me worrying"

"You know what the moral of this is don't you?" Abigail then asked and Nikki frowned at her.

"No" she replied slowly and hesitantly before her friend smirked.

"Don't have rough sex"

"Yes well at least we're getting some" Nikki smirked right back and Abigail mock glared at her "And anyway it wasn't that rough, it's been rougher"

"Yeah yeah rubbing it in again"

"So what would happen if you are.."

"I don't know" Nikki interrupted Jennifer quickly and shook her head "I just..I have no idea"

"Well loads of people have unprotected sex every day and they don't always end up pregnant" Jennifer shrugged and Nikki nodded in agreement "And at least you used protection, I'm sure most of Harry's'..uh..got caught in the condom. Right?" she trailed off hesitantly and Nikki rolled her eyes, nodding again "Good, well there's a good chance that you're not actually going to be pregnant, a lot less than if you weren't actually using any protection"

"That is very true" Emily nodded and Nikki sighed, smiling at them all.

"I know, thank you. I'm just worrying that's all"

"Are you both looking forward to your birthday next week?" Nikki signed and spoke to her children as Gabriel and Donovan sat in the bath, splashing each other and their mother with the water that came up to their waists, Nikki kneeling next to the bath watching them carefully. Gabriel turned to look at her when he heard her voice and grinned, giggling and holding up a yellow duck towards her. Nikki grinned and leant forward, her son pressing the duck's beak to her mouth as she pretended to kiss it. "You've both got lots of presents from everyone"

"Yes because they're very spoilt"

Nikki glanced behind her when she heard Harry's voice and chuckled as she did so, nodding as well.

"Yes they are but not obnoxiously so but it's their birthday, I spoilt you didn't I?"

Harry smirked when he remembered Nikki's present to him and she turned to look at him again as she seemed to read his mind, throwing him a withering look.

"Your other presents"

"I seem to remember the best present I got was you in bed for the entire morning"

"I'll take that as a compliment" Nikki giggled as he walked over and knelt down on the floor next to her, ruffling Donovan's hair and making the deaf boy look at him and grin, holding up the yellow duck he had taken from his older brother.

"What's that?" Harry signed "Is that your duck?"

"Duck" Donovan signed back and waved the bath toy at Harry again "Duck"

"Clever boy" Harry replied and leant over to kiss his son's damp hair, Donovan laughing and making Harry kiss the duck like Gabriel had made Nikki do a few minutes later. "And you" he turned to Gabriel who was having his hair washed by Nikki, the little boy struggling and giggling in the water as he shook his head, his mother laughing as she continued to wash his blonde hair. "When are you going to start saying daddy? Hmm?"

"Mummy" Gabriel signed as Nikki moved her hands away from his hair which was full of shampoo bubbles and his parents laughed lovingly at him.

"Who's that?" Nikki asked her son, speaking it as well], pointing to Harry and Gabriel giggled as he ran his hands through his bubbly hair.

"Daddy"

"Good boy" Nikki murmured before she began to rinse the shampoo out his hair, covering his eyes with her hand as she did so. "You're both brilliant"

"Don't you miss them being babies?" Nikki asked Harry an hour and a half later when they were putting the twins to bed, Donovan already fast asleep, the deaf child always falling asleep quickly before Gabriel who always got distracted by random noises when they were trying to get him to sleep.

"They're still babies" Harry smiled up at his lover who was leaning against the wall next to the window where she had just closed the colourful blinds on them.

"I mean proper babies like Adrian, Elsie and Fergus"

"Sometimes" Harry admitted and Nikki smiled slightly "But then again I wouldn't miss them growing up for the world"

"Me neither" Nikki shook her head, reaching up and removing her long hair from the ponytail it had been in and then shaking her head again so her hair loosened even more, falling down her back an over her shoulders.

"But I'm glad they're this age, it'll be really difficult raising a baby any younger than these" Harry continued, smiling down at Gabriel who was laying in his cot and missing the guilty look on Nikki's face as she nodded.

"Yeah, it would be" she murmured and looked down at the floor and crossing her arms over her chest before chuckling at her lover who was tickling Gabriel with one hand, a grin on his face as Nikki heard their son laughing loudly "If you keep talking to him and smiling at him he's never going to go to sleep and then we'll be up for hours on end because he's hyped up"

"Aww that's not true is it?" Harry cooed to Gabriel and Nikki shook her head, pushing away from the wall, walking past her fiancé and then out of the room. "Nikki?"

There was no response and Harry sighed, looking down at Gabriel who grinned up at him, kicking his feet and holding up his arms to his father who just smiled and shook his head.

"Daddy will be back in a minute when he's talked to mummy okay little man?" he leant down and kissed his son on the head before straightening up and walking out of the room as well.

She wasn't in their bedroom or their bathroom and Harry frowned, wondering what was wrong with her. He didn't think it was anything to do with him playing with their son, she never stopped him from playing with either of their children but he knew there was something deeper wrong with her as well. Stepping out of their main room he looked down the corridor and spotted Jennifer walking down the corridor towards her room with her son in her arms.

"Jen have you seen Nikki?" Harry called down and the black haired woman looked up and nodded.

"She just said she was going for a walk" she nodded towards the general direction of the main door and Harry frowned "What's wrong?"

"Have you noticed something wrong with Nikki?"

There was a short silence.

"No"

Harry didn't believe her but Adrian suddenly beginning to cry took Jennifer's attention away from him and he walked back into his room, noting that Nikki's jacket was gone from the back of the door.

Nikki wrapped her coat tighter around her as she walked quickly away from the housing and down the steps towards the pathology part of the campus, it was only just seven o'clock but it was already getting dark, the lights on the paths already on and casting eerie glows over the paths and the grass next to the paths. She cursed herself for having forgotten her gloves and scarf and placed her hands in her coat pocket as she passed a small group of students making their way in the direction of the main campus where on the other side were some more halls of residence and the bars and other social areas.

A few minutes later and Nikki finally stopped walking and looked around, realising she had walked off the course to the medicine and pathology buildings and was instead near a bus stop where a bus was waiting, a few students getting off the brightly lit bus. She recognised one of them and he obviously recognised her as well because he made his way over to her.

"Hi" Mumford smiled as he walked up the few steps towards her and Nikki smiled back at him.

"Hi"

"What are you doing out here in the dark?" Mumford asked her and Nikki shrugged.

"I needed some time to think"

"Can I walk with you?"

"Of course" Nikki smiled and nodded, turning and walking back to where she had just walked from, Mumford walking next to her "Where have you just come back from?"

"Main Oxford" Mumford replied as they turned the corner towards the main campus which was another ten minute walk, passing the dark shed which students kept their bikes they used to cycle around the large campus. "Now"

Nikki gasped loudly as Mumford grabbed her arm and pulled her around the side of the shed, pressing her up against the cold wooden side of it and placing one hand over her mouth. She struggled against him, fear in her eyes but he was a lot stronger than her and pressed his body up against hers, smirking as he ran his eyes over her body and undid her coat with his free hand.

"You be a good girl for me won't you?"